Exploring Gender Identity

Hormone Power

by Sequoia Elisabeth on September 28, 2010

The individuals who are on a gender transition journey are well aware of the power hormones wield in life; however the average person may not realize just how powerful these little communicators are. I devote an entire chapter to hormones in my new eBook, Sex and Sexuality, which is coming out next month.

A hormone is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another, pretty simple right? Well, there is power in simplicity. Physically each person has certain body parts that trigger the hormone release in the first place. In the case of Hormone Replacement Therapy (used mostly for post-menopausal women or post op women), or Contra Hormone Therapy (used for the treatment of Gender Dysphoria or Gender Incongruency) the hormone is introduced manually.

In the book I get into the specific effects of each sexual hormone as they are used for CHT, without going into much about HRT. The amazing thing to me is the end result of a little chemical that orchestrates the rearrangement of your entire body, short of growing new sexual organs.

Here is a quote from the eBook, Sex and Sexuality, “The sex hormones are powerful tools for communication amongst cells, just as sexual acts are powerful communication between animals. It seems that all of life is about some form of communication or relational experience. Almost all of human behavior can be related to communication in some form. We have just discovered another form here in hormones which are the chemical start to potential sexual fireworks.

The other lesson learned here is that male and female really are fairly superficial aspects of our being and that every human has both, otherwise there would be no way for a male to take female hormones and take on the characteristics of female (or vice versa). It really is as simple as flipping a switch in the physical makeup of the body to shift from one sex to the other on a physical level. Of course there is a complex process that occurs and many would not consider this simple, but the point is it occurs when the messenger (hormone) tells the cell which form to take, just like flipping the light switch on the wall. What does not shift is the gender identity or sexual orientation which is hard wired into the brain.”

A note to my transgender friends, as you know, hormones are powerful tools, but do not change the mind or your Spiritual essence, if anything they do help to accentuate them though as in the process our body, mind and Spirit are aligned. While they help many people, they are not for everyone, so make sure you are clear on your gender identity before you make this big step. Going back is possible at this level, but not without permanent changes depending on how far down the road you get. I for one must say hormones are the best thing I have done for myself since becoming aware of my transgender status. Now to have the surgery so I can stop taking them!